The organizational chart of the BCM MRDDRC is shown under section II.A.2 above (Figure II.A.1). It outlines the administrative responsibilities of the Director, the Associate Director and the Administrative Core to the Research Cores and individual research projects. Due to the number of research projects approved for access to cores in the BCM MRDDRC, we have represented them by their thematic topics, with a number in parentheses indicating the number of individual projects supported within each theme. Table II.A.2, above, lists the projects individually. Dr. Huda Zoghbi was appointed Director upon recommendation of the internal advisory committee after Dr. Edward McCabe left BCM to chair Pediatrics at UCLA. Dr. Zoghbi has been Director of the BCM MRDDRC for over eight years and will continue in that capacity. She is a board certified pediatric neurologist with abundant research accomplishments. She brings interest in and experience with numerous human genetic disorders with mental retardation as a component. She has a particular interest in Rett syndrome. Dr. Zoghbi is Professor of Pediatrics, Neurology, Neurosciences and Molecular and Human Genetics and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. David Nelson has served as Associate Director of the BCM MRDDRC during the current funding cycle, and will continue in that role in this proposed renewal. Dr. Nelson is a human molecular geneticist who brings extensive experience and interest in mental retardation to the MRDDRC through his activities in characterizing the fragile X syndrome, FRAXE syndrome and incontinentia pigmenti genes and their products. He also has prior experience in managing large Centers both Associate Director and Director of the NIH-funded BCM Human Genome Center. Dr. Nelson will be responsible for the BCM MRDDRC should the Director become incapacitated and he will continue to advise and assist the Director in the operation of the MRDDRC along with the Administrative and Scientific Advisory Committee.